To My Beloved Friends on 9/11

For Mike, Jack, Tony, Larry, Amy, Rick & Nancy who died in Tower 1 & 2 on 9/11:

You've been gone for some time now.
Your hugs and laughter are no more,
the memory of your smiles have faded away
and I miss you all the more.

Yes... I miss you.
More than words can ever say,
more than my letters can convey,
in every single way,
since the day you passed away,
I've missed you.

View of Lower Manhattan

I've not been feeling well since this afternoon. Sitting here, watching such a beautiful sunset unfold before me, I thought I'd try and capture it so I could share it with you.

The picture doesn't do it justice. Maybe it was all in my state of mind, either way I hope you like it.

Russo's

Best homemade pasta EVER! 'nuf said. Oh, as for location... I don't know... some things I just don't want to share, they might run out of my spinach and salmon ravioli that I love so much. Then where would I be?

Alright, alright, I'll share... They're located to the left of Veniero's. For location see this post.

Vintage NY

This lovely boutique, which is called Tokyo Joe's, for one of the owner's, has high-end vintage clothing for sale at reasonable prices.

One thing's for sure, you'll look very good while standing out in these stylish, yet gently worn clothing. It's a fashion must for every trendy eastsider.

The shop is conveniently located on 12 St. between 1st & 2nd Avenues, just a few doors up from Veniero's (see previous 2 posts).

This location is very convenient because after some fun shopping in local vintage boutiques you can unwind and share your finds by meeting a friend at either Veniero's or DeRobertis (just down the street) for a delicious Moccaccino (iced or hot depending on the weather).

Mmmmm Chocolate Cake!

Every woman KNOWS why women eat chocolate cake. Well, I had one of those days which included all of those reasons and while I ordered my son's birthday cake from Veniero's I indulged in a slice of one of these beauties. Did I feel better afterwards? Well, let's just say I was left with a satisfied smile on my face.

Veniero's Pastry Shop

This place is a little slice of heaven in the East Village. When I was single & lived in Manhattan, I'd head here and nurse a tall/Venti Iced Moccachino waiting for my friends to meet up, so we could decide on where to eat dinner and on the rest of the evening's activities.

On hot lazy summer weekends in August I still love going there, this time with my son, with good books to help us relax and an Iced cold Orzata to keep us cool while we sit al fresco. Care 2 join?

St. Marks Bookshop

This post was inspired by this post over at Blog Sis Tammi's place, where she talks about her rocker days.

The Beatles had Strawberry Fields & Penny Lane, I had St. Marks Bookshop and CBGB's.

St. Marks's Bookshop has an incredibly eclectic collection of books, both foreign & domestic. I still love their amazingly brilliant staff because they helped shape my grad studies, while honing my political debating skills, and enriching my literary life by introducing me to Spinoza, Goethe, in addition to Plato & Aristotle.

This week, St. Mark's is doing a retrospective on CBGB's, which is only a few blocks away and is slated to close in a few days. I also love that place because I had a couple of gigs as a back up singer there during my young/punk days. My favorite bands who played there were The Clash and The Ramones.

In spite of what I looked like and the rep of punks, I still think it was a fun, sweet, and innocent time for me. What can I say, I was a walking dichotomy!

A Quiet East Village

This where I go to get a great 'chino or latte and I want to sit in a quiet corner reading a book or essay. It's the corner of 12th and 1st Ave. Also known as the corner of DeRobertis, Black Forest and Veniero's Coffee and Pastry shops. At this hour of the day its quiet, but let the sun go down and there's lines everywhere.

I love DeRobertis because they know me (I practically lived there) and they let me hang out nursing a cup of java and letting me chat with the staff about jazz and/or cooking trends and tips. It's better than watching Martha Stewart.

I've had many a group dates here. All were fun and interesting.

A Room With a View

Most apartments in NYC don't come with a view. If they do they're astronomically overpriced. My mom is really lucky in a way, although I hate the street level view of her East Village apartment, I love the sunsets and moon rises that I can see from her living room window.

What's even more rare is that she has a great view from the 12th floor of her apt from the bedroorm too.

I'm staying at her place for the next few nights and this will be my view for each. Couldn't resist sharing it.

Starting Over with my beloved city

I'm back... sort of. I'm back to both conduct a photo blog essay/journey/experiment and also to find new footing. In looking to move forward into a new direction, I always need to look back to see where I've come from and examine closely my previous incarnations to see what they produced. In the process I make sure I retain the really good (such as my love for reading and writing) and I do away with the really bad. Sometimes the bad is a relationship, other times it can be as simple as a look: like my purple hair and crazy hairstyle and clothes during my singing as a backup for a few bands and punk rock days.

Why am I doing this now? Well, I just had a birthday last month and usually every number of years I make a decision and redirect my thoughts and focus in a different or more purposeful direction. That focus propels me forward onto a new chapter and sometimes in a direction.

Well, I’m on the verge of a new phase. I can taste and feel it. It starts with a dissatisfaction that moves onto unhappiness and then, something happens to create a pervasive sadness that once it longers for too long creates just an enormous weight on my sould that needs to be moved through and lifted. It started with job earlier this year, so I got a new one; a challenging position that uses all my skills in research, analysis, and writing to it’s fullest. Now I’m re-evaluating the rest of my life - from where I live to the people that are in my life.

The wonderful thing about living in this city is that it provides you with lots of diversions and distractions to help ease the sorrow, fear and confusion during this process, and lots of way to transform yourself once you know where you want to go. There's also lots of things you can use in the process if that's your bag, from self-help books and centers, to gurus or consultants and ending up with life coaches and past life regresstions. I wonder what my blogsis Tammi would have to say about that. Anyway, that's not for me.

Part of my process is to hit the reflecting pool of the East River with Lady Liberty waving at me from the water reminding me that many a people have passed this way before me looking for a change similar to mine and succeeded. From them I draw my inspiration and with journal in hand, a cup of joe, some writing, some thinking and some good old fashioned grieving for the things I have to let go I begin to let things gel wihtin me. Afterwards I give myself some good old fashioned pep talk for the things I need to do, so I can begin to prepare for the adventure I've tentatively and somewhat fearfully set out for myself. Then I'll take a much needed walk to let it all sink in, during that walk I commit to walk on that new path no matter how difficult, much like Frodo did, because in the end, the goal is there waiting for me, it's the journey.

You can’t live or be in this city without being touched by it’s intensity and occasional frenetic pace. No matter how you’re feeling, walk long enough along it’s streets and you’ll experience a mind/emotional shift.

So hold onto your seat belts and hats. The journey and adventure begins now!